Stand
by Brian1
Summary: The story of how Masaki Kurosaki protected her son from the Hollow known as the Grand Fisher.


**Stand**

"Mommy?"

Masaki Kurosaki glanced downwards, finding her young son excitedly tugging at the hem of her dress.

"Mommy, do you see that? There's a little girl over there," he said, pointing towards the riverbank. "She looks lost."

Masaki scanned the area and saw a little girl, about the same age as her son, sitting near the riverbank, curiously alone. Her instincts as a mother – or woman's intuition, whatever it was – had a strange feeling about this. No child that age would be sitting alone like that, especially in such gloomy weather, unless they ran away from home or…

She suddenly perked up, realizing that the spirit energy that she had sensed earlier was here, and it was _strong_.

It was a _Hollow_…and a powerful one at that, even though she could feel that it was hiding its spirit energy to remain hidden.

"Mommy, we gotta go help her!" her son cried out, breaking her out of her reverie. His hand slipped out of hers as he ran towards the girl using his short legs.

_No! _she wanted to say, although the words died in her throat. _Don't Ichigo!_

She ran after him, taking long strides in order to catch up to her son before it was too late. It was not too late, she could still save him and get out and call for help.

Her heart was racing, her legs ached, and her mind was racing at the possible scenarios that she was faced with. Death was something she was familiar with, something she grew up around, something she's been involved with for as long as she could remember.

But today she was not going to be mourning the death of someone close to her, especially not her Ichigo… even if it meant giving up her own life to protect his..

The Hollow, which would come to be known to Ichigo years later as the Grand Fisher, turned its "head" as it watched the child and woman approach, taking the bait it had so cleverly placed. It grinned wide, noticing that the woman smelled delicious, probably the most enticing aroma it had smelled since it had arrived in this most unusual town. Picking such a highly spiritual dense place as Karakura was probably the best decision it had made since it died and became a Hollow.

Ichigo came to an abrupt stop, his little legs suddenly frozen. He felt dizzy, as if an immense pressure was being placed on him. The little lost girl he had seen earlier was giving him the strangest look, and he realized that it wasn't a girl after all. He was too young to realize the difference between real people and spirits, and the last thing he saw before he passed out from the immense spirit force coming from the girl was his mother, his wonderful mother looking so worried and scared.

Masaki caught him before he fell, cradling his head and making sure he wasn't injured. A mixture of fear and anger rose up inside of her, threatening to spill over. The normally soft features on her face showed nothing but contempt and disgust at the Hollow, knowing full well what its intentions were.

"I've always loved the taste of women," it said gleefully, reeling in the bait/girl and revealing its true form.

Masaki placed her son gently on the ground and whispered an incantation, causing a yellow-tinged, triangular shield to form around his body. Three fairies were holding the shield in place, so that she wouldn't have to exert herself using her own spirit energy to keep it up. Three other fairies circled around her, intent on serving their master until the very end.

The fairy dressed in black flew up to her head, eyeing the Hollow alongside its master. "Masaki, you know that I love to fight. But this…this is suicide. I can feel that thing's spirit energy, and it's…beyond us."

Her eyes remained on the Hollow, which was staring right back at her with large, pale white eyes of its own, wondering when it would strike. "Tsubaki…it's pointless to run now, but I'm sure you realized that too. This may possibly be the end. This is what I have to do, old friend. I need to save my child, my baby. I won't let anyone harm him, not as long as I'm still living and breathing."

The Hollow roared in delight at her speech. "I can't wait to eat you all up…I'm sure I've never tried such a foolish woman before!"

She stood up, taking one last good look at her son, lying unconscious behind the barrier, safe from harm for now.

"Time's up!" the creature announced, rushing at her with speed only a Hollow could muster. She nimbly rolled out of the way, unable to use her shield as it was protecting her young son from harm. She opted to have her healing and attack fairies with her, hoping that they would suffice. She got up and motioned with a wave of her hand for Tsubaki to go behind the Hollow.

"Cut it, Tsubaki!" she commanded.

The Hollow held up a hardened part of its body to deflect the fairy, making it barely miss the masked portion of its body. It sent out a tentacle sized appendage at Masaki, sweeping her off her feet and knocking her down. She took the momentum she had gathered from the fall and used it to avoid another tentacle slash, ordering the two other fairies to be healing her constantly instead of waiting for any sort of command. They nodded and yellow-gold light surrounded her, making her glow and temporarily blind the Hollow.

She moved behind it, her black fairy racing alongside her, waiting for her word. "Cut it down, Tsubaki!"

It moved swiftly, cutting straight through the Hollow's backside, before bursting out of its chest, black blood oozing out of the gaping hole left by the fairy. It let out a roar of pain, staggering and moving sluggishly, not anticipating the attack. It released more tentacles, slashing about in a chaotic frenzy, leveling the ground and surrounding area.

Masaki was not quick enough as she was again sideswiped, landing a few feet from where she had stood. Her fairies worked overtime, healing her wounds as fast as they appeared, yet she still felt tired and weary.

The Hollow paused and turned towards the woman, still reeling in pain from the bloodied hole in its chest. "You'll pay for that, you stupid bitch!"

She again stood up, facing down the Hollow with all the determination and fire that ignited in a mother's heart whenever their child was in danger. Thoughts of her Soul Reaper husband Isshin entered her mind, as well as her two younger children Yuzu and Karin. With a heavy heart she realized that she probably would not see them again, at least not in this lifetime.

She sent Tsubaki off wordlessly, intending for the fairy to hit the mask and put an end to this quickly. The fairy flew swiftly at its intended target, but just as it was about to reach the mask it was sent flying off, two tentacles smashing into it with unnatural strength.

The black fairy crashed into the grass, unable to move a muscle. It was still able to talk, so it let out a variety of curses, mainly in disbelief at how weak it was compared to a simple Hollow.

Masaki turned her attention away from the black fairy and to the Hollow, which was now towering above her, poised to strike.

"How are you still standing?" it asked incredulously, tentacles dangling above her head.

_Goodbye, Isshin...Yuzu...Karin…Ichigo…_

She redirected the healing energy that the fairies had been providing her into her hand, which was glowing with red energy. She directed her palm upwards and towards the Hollow's mask, shouting, "Ye Lord, Mask of Blood and Flesh, All Creation, Flutter of Wings, Ye Who Bears The Name of Man, Inferno and Pandemonium, The Sea Barrier Surges, March on to the South! Destructive Art 33, Red Flame Cannon!"

The Hollow was knocked back considerably, its mask nearly broken and shattered in several places, but not before one of its tentacles pierced her straight through, taking a small piece of her soul with it. It leapt away, far too damaged from the surprise attack to continue the battle. It would take years, perhaps even ten or more, before it would be back to full strength. Until that time, it would wait…and then it would feed on her, and if possible, her family as well. Being immortal, it had all the time in the world…

Already exhausted from using a Soul Reaper technique that Isshin had shown her how to use in case of a life-or-death situation, Masaki slumped to the ground. She landed wordlessly on the triangular barrier that had been shielding her son; she was bleeding profusely and knew that she wasn't long for this world, but was content that she had managed to drive back the exceptionally strong Hollow.

Her fairies tried in vain to heal the large wound, but to no avail; they simply would not be able to heal her in time. Time was something that she did not have, so she motioned for them to stop.

She gathered them close, and said, "Thank you, for being there ever since my spirit powers were first awakened. Now it's time for you all to go and find someone else to protect…please…"

The fairies tried to protest, but the look on their masters face told them that the decision was not theirs to make. They flew off, in search for a new spiritually enhanced person to protect, not knowing at the time that their next master would look so similar to the last.

Masaki brought her still unconscious son close to her heart, enjoying her last moments with him before her spirit left her mortally wounded body.

It wasn't long before a man wearing sandals and a white and green striped hat came along, looking the same as the day she met him ten years ago.

"Hello, Masaki," he greeted pleasantly, looking her over, "you've become a spirit now, I see?"

She nodded, not taking her eyes off her son. "A Hollow tried to attack Ichigo."

He glanced towards the young boy who lay on the ground. "I see, I see. I'm truly sorry that I couldn't have gotten here earlier…I was only drawn to this place after feeling an immense burst of spiritual energy being released."

"It must have been either the Hollow or when I used one of those…demon arts, or whatever you Soul Reapers call it," she replied.

He was impressed, knowing full well how much spirit energy it took for non-Soul Reapers to pull off demon art techniques.

He noticed the sad expression on her face. "I'm sure Isshin will be devastated to hear the news of your passing, Masaki. He'll be proud at least, when I tell him how his beautiful wife took a stand against such a powerful Hollow, and despite the odds did not stand down until the very end."

"Tell him that I love him too, will you?" she asked.

A kind smile appeared on his face as he waved a paper fan around. "Of course, of course, Miss Kurosaki! It's not like he didn't know that, but I will respect your wishes…and don't look so grim, this is certainly not the end!"

"I've been a human all my life, unlike you, Kisuke," she reminded him gently, "it's hard knowing I won't see them for awhile."

He nodded, almost forgetting that the woman before him was, despite her power, a human woman…the strongest one he had ever known, but ultimately human and undeniably mortal.

There was comfortable silence, before she asked the question she dreaded to ask. "I guess you'll be doing a soul burial for me?"

"Ah, yes, I almost forget that I can do that," he said sheepishly, taking out Benihime and calling its name, transforming the simple cane to its true form. He could never forget of course, but he felt it prudent that he should try to remain composed and humorous, instead of grim and serious like other Soul Reapers, in order to make her last few moments pleasant.

She took one last, lingering look at Ichigo, before motioning that she was ready for him.

He kindly laid the handle portion of his zanpakuto on her forehead, causing her spirit to transcend the world she loved for Soul Society, where she would be patiently waiting for her beloved family, until the day when they could all be together again.

**End**


End file.
